Mr. Robot (Season 2)

[number8]

Kinda crazy that technology allows movies to do this now:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fobpzS3vZg0

I wonder what the legality is when it comes to these things, or if there's even precedent set yet.

[Grouchy]

So, who watched this?

[number8]

A bit too jumbled. Seemed to be setting up a lot. Some really great sequences, though. The smart house hack was obviously the highlight, but I also love the montage of Joey Bada$$ slowly becoming a Seinfeld fan.

[Grouchy]

Yeah. Visually, this is one of the most inventive shows I've ever seen on TV. That scene you mention was so good - it reminded me of that chapter in Martian Chronicles where the smart house keeps working without people living in it. Back when Bradbury wrote it, the "smart house" concept was also science-fiction.

I'd forgotten how high the stakes were in the Season 1 finale. Makes me wonder if they wrote themselves into a corner. But, like you say, this episode is mostly set up.

P.S.: Write in the Preacher thread. I don't want to keep bitching alone about it. Join me in the anger or defend it.

[amberlita]

Here is how unusual I find this show's style to be: In Part 2, the first scene with Angela at ECorp, the sound dropped out. Checked that I hadn't accidentally hit mute; I hadn't, so I actually waited out the entire scene watching it in silence, thinking it's very possible this was the show runner's intention. It was only when it moved onto the next scene and the sound hadn't returned that I realized there was some issue with the streaming.

[number8]

Here is how unusual I find this show's style to be: In Part 2, the first scene with Angela at ECorp, the sound dropped out. Checked that I hadn't accidentally hit mute; I hadn't, so I actually waited out the entire scene watching it in silence, thinking it's very possible this was the show runner's intention. It was only when it moved onto the next scene and the sound hadn't returned that I realized there was some issue with the streaming.

Ha, did you watch it on the Roku app? Same thing happened to me after cutting from commercial to the bodega scene and I was like, "Hmmm, interesting choice, what does it mean?" I would've pegged it as a streaming issue immediately if it were any other show.

[amberlita]

Ha, did you watch it on the Roku app? Same thing happened to me after cutting from commercial to the bodega scene and I was like, "Hmmm, interesting choice, what does it mean?" I would've pegged it as a streaming issue immediately if it were any other show.

Exactly. I seldom know what to expect with this show's unique presentation and it's really great.

And yup it was on the Roku app. Good to know it wasn't just me. :)

[[ETM]]

So, we burned through S1 while here on vacation. I've got S2 ready to go, but I keep hearing how it sucks now. What's the consensus here?

[Mara]

I'm still feeling it. It's certainly a show that doesn't care about being accessible though.

[Gittes]

;559969']So, we burned through S1 while here on vacation. I've got S2 ready to go, but I keep hearing how it sucks now. What's the consensus here?

No, it doesn't suck. I think some folks just didn't expect things to get very interior and headspace-y after the last two episodes of S1. Any ennervation that you might experience due to the psychological focus in the first half of this new season is leavened by Malek and Slater's watchable performances, the reliably great visuals (it's certainly one of the most noticeably and fastidiously composed shows), and a smattering of other interesting developments. The show is still confidently marching to the beat of its own drum. I wouldn't characterize this as a genuine sophomore slump.

In fact, the latest episode may have been the best in the entire series. Oh, and there was a formal gambit at the beginning of a recent episode that is among the strangest things I've seen on television (to say more would be to risk spoilers, but trust me, it's good). Craig Robinson, Grace Gummer, and Joey Bada$$ have joined the show and their respective contributions are quite good. So, yeah, I'm still finding lots to appreciate.

EDIT: Hiding this next bit, just in case, but I don't consider what I'm discussing here to be a legitimate spoiler:

My only issue, I guess, is that I can't recall another show that has made one of its cast members disappear for this long. It's this deferred promise, and the show keeps saying, "hey, remember that guy? I wonder when he'll come back!" Buffy did something similar at one point, but they didn't take this long. What they're doing right now is comparable to taking away, like, Vincent Karthiesier for over half a season following Mad Men's first season.

[number8]

I made the comparison to Hannibal. It figured out that the fans like the hazy mood and the opaqueness of its direction more than its standard thriller plotting, so it's going full out esoteric in the second season.

[number8]

My only issue, I guess, is that I can't recall another show that has made one of its cast members disappear for this long. It's this deferred promise, and the show keeps saying, "hey, remember that guy? I wonder when he'll come back!" Buffy did something similar at one point, but they didn't take this long. What they're doing right now is comparable to taking away, like, Vincent Karthiesier for over half a season following Mad Men's first season.

I initially assumed it was a behind-the-scenes reason, but no, dude is not doing anything right now (which I guess explains why he's still available to do one scene appearances in every other episode). And he was doing interviews and promos for S2. This is completely a deliberate choice on the show's part.

[Gittes]

I was vaguely reminded of something during that great scene with Angela and the deputy director in the hallway, but I'm not pinning it down. Shades of The Twilight Zone, maybe? I might be recalling a creepy corridor scene from "Twenty Two," the episode where Barbara Nichols experiences death premonitions while in the hospital. There's some Lynch here, too, given that dreadful glance down the hallway, and perhaps also in the way the deputy director's vibe does that brisk shift from innocuous to unnerving. Some other paranoiac influences, probably: Rosemary's Baby, Eye​s Wide Shut (although, the latter may apply less to this specific scene and more to other aspects). I was also reminded of that scene from S4 of Lost, when Lance Reddick visits Hurley in the mental institute, and his whole affect changes from professional to menacing ("Are they fine, Mr. Reyes?").

Anyway, I'm mostly liking the heavily paranoid leanings of this episode and the previous one. I can't recall another show that has played this angle quite so effectively. Like, last week, that shot of Trenton staring out at the car that suddenly swerves away, or the very nightmarish idea of Elliot watching Mr. Robot from inside the bathroom? Not to mention that weird bit with the offscreen noises after Cisco returns to the apartment...that was unsettling.

The weirdness and anxiety of the whole situation has been really well conveyed. Esmail (he has apparently directed every episode this season) has been delivering a pretty steady stream of (for the most part) indelible, well-conceived visual details that have really amped up the creepiness.

[Gittes]

The upcoming finale is two hours long. Excellent news. Really wish Wednesday would hurry up and get here. I'm still fascinated by the exercise of withholding a cast member for this long (I really thought Tyrell would be back by now) and I'm eager to see if that gambit pays off. I also hope we see Joey Bada$$ in the finale — I suspect we will.

The ending of last week's episode felt indebted to Breaking Bad (incidentally, Esmail was recently praising "4 Days Out" on Twitter; he's on his third re-watch of the series). The sight of those Dark Army soldiers gliding into the foreground on a motorcycle was quite something.

I'm still really loving everything that Grace Gummer has brought to this season. Shout-out to Michael Cristofer's voice and line deliveries, too.

Oh, and just a head's up: apparently, spoilers for the finale are out there, so it might be a good idea to stay from any online discussion about this show until after it airs.

EDIT: I was mistaken; the finale is a two-parter but we're only getting the first one tonight. I thought they were airing both.

[Mara]

I caught up on the last couple of episodes, and unsurprisingly I am loving this season. (Much as I loved Hannibal S3, which number8 correctly compared it to.) I think it is the most visually interesting show on television right now.

I also think it has so far improved over S1. We are getting lots of little tricks instead of one big one, which is more consistent, and the influences are recognized without the show being as derivative as it was in S1. I am loving it.

[number8]

Yeah, I also think this season is a huge improvement over the first season.

[Gittes]

Tyrell's anguished declaration of love almost made up for the fact that he was missing for most of the season.

[Grouchy]

I haven't seen any other big 2016 show except for Game of Thrones and that pitiful spectacle of a Preacher adaptation, but I doubt there's something better than this out there for me to discover. Esmail and his crew just keep upping the stakes, and at this point I feel it has become at least as engaging as Breaking Bad... on its final season. Love love love the style. Sometimes the framing is so bold that the character's face occupies 1/9th of the frame while the rest is just background information. And while some might accuse the constant rug-pulling of the writers of being too cutesy, I think every twist more than earns its welcome and is properly foreshadowed to boot. The episode that starts with the sitcom and ends with the naming of the hardware store is pure mind-fucking brilliance.

[number8]

Tyrell's anguished declaration of love almost made up for the fact that he was missing for most of the season.

12 episodes of build up towards the gun showdown gamble. Excellent.